Yesterday I received the news that I was nominated for Livestream of the Year for an IRIS Award at Mom 2.0 Conference. News that not only filled my heart with joy but also offered me a validation, just to be recognized by the industry, for the second year. This is already a HUGE honor for me!
The news came on the same day, almost at the same time that I was listening to Still I rise by Maya Angelou. A tribute offered by Google narrated by Oprah Winfrey, Alicia Keys, Maya Angelou herself, among many others, in commemoration of her 90th birthday.
Still I Rise
BY MAYA ANGELOU
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise” from And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems. Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
Source: The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (1994)
Finding the poem at the same time that I received the Iris Award nomination was a sign to me. A true sign that I am on the right path and no matter what comes, “Still I Rise”.
Thank you for nominating me for an Iris Award, thank you for your on going support. Today I not only feel validated but above all, loved! Lifted by the assurance that my hard work and on going efforts to share my all with my community while working brands is appreciated.
That my work is validated by a community which supports and is genuinely happy for its members success!
Can’t wait to hear what you think! As usual, give us a Trendy Shout!
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Beautiful! A well deserved nomination and I’m feeling confident you will win. Your livestreams are always well thought out, advertised ahead of time so we know when to tune in for you and the content is always very useful and helpful to me! Plus we get to chat online a little bit! Your hard work and dedication to what you love doing really stands out. Congrats!!!